What is a Persona?

Personas are used in UX design. It is a design tool that significantly facilitates the design process by having each persona represent the actual target audience of our clients.Based on the patterns created by the information previously collected from user interviews, analytics and observations, we perform the determination of the personas.

By using personas, our design team can focus on creating a design that serves real users. Thus, we focus on the needs and processes of typical users instead of creating a generic design that serves the needs of everyone.

The point of using personas

In Ergomania, the use of personas is an essential part of UX design. The personas we build represent real users in a way that include their goals, actual patterns of behavior, and real motivations, as well as having the necessary background information.
So a persona could even be a real, living person, but since they are imaginary ones, a lot more can be done with them – for starters, they are readily available, can be called upon till the end of times and need no compensation whatsoever.

Personas represent real users by compiling the following parts:

• Name
• Photo
• Topic-related abilities
• Typical activities related to the topic
• Motivations
• Problems
• Fears
• Goals

Use of personas at Ergomania

For a successful UX design, it is enough to use 2-3 personas because we focus primarily on behavior, activities and interactions rather than demographic data and full coverage of the spectrum.
In our experience, a less detailed person works much better, with more time to use in the design process than using most of the time to polish and improve it – and little time to use for targeted use.

The main methods of using personas

At Ergomania, we create perfectly usable personas in 3 steps.

• In the first step, we collect data about users’ motivations, expectations, difficulties, tasks, and goals directly from users or from our available analytics.
• In the second step, we harmonize the data collected by exploring patterns of behavior, universal and individual needs, and user goals.
• Finally in the third step, we create a description of each user archetype by creating actual people with faces, thoughts, fears, and background stories. This is important because it is easier to invoke empathy if we think of them as real people with real problems.

What do our clients gain by using personas?

When presented with the personas, our clients receive a graphical personal card that is detailed enough to invoke empathy but contains only the information needed for the project. Beyond personal information, it is more important to have what we know about the thoughts, feelings, knowledge, expectations, problems, and behavior of these personas.
If we try to plan for everyone, we do not really plan for anyone. Personas, on the other hand, readily answer the question “Who are we planning for?” – and we are fully aware that one of the principles of UX and service design is to clearly define the target groups of products and services.
The main benefit for our clients is that the design will be more focused, so it will serve the target users better than an average, readymade design. This also makes it easier for our clients to access their KPIs, as the design serves exactly those needs it is expected to serve.

What is the role of our clients in defining personas?

To determine the personas, we need all the data from our clients that applies to their target audience. These are usually included in the results of target group interviews.
If necessary, even our experts would conduct the necessary interviews with the clients’ target audience, we would create the database necessary to establish these personas and conduct the final evaluation.

The result of the successful use of personas

Since the personas represent the target group of UX design users, their use guides us through our design process by reminding us what are the expectations, difficulties, behavior and ultimate goals of real users. In each additional step, we rely on personas, such as creating processes, functions, or interactions.

Personas are not only useful for designers but can continue to be used when making a certain business or marketing decision. They can also be used as points of reference to help understanding new team members and even to pinpoint new possible directions for innovation.

Personas are not end products. They are rather constantly changing and can be updated depending on the current state of the product. This means that a persona can become an integral part of product development throughout the life of the product.